Saudi Arabia rejects call for international probe of Khashoggi murder

ICMD, March 14, 2019

Saudi Arabia on Thursday reiterated its rejection of calls for an international, independent investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting it was well equipped to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The head of a Saudi delegation speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva insisted that his country was taking all the “measures required for us to resolve this heinous crime”.

Bandar Al-Aiban, who heads Saudi Arabia's human rights commission, stressed though that any calls to “internationalise” the investigation “amount to an interference in our domestic affairs”.

Aiban was in Geneva presenting his country's response to a review of its rights record before the council last November, during which it faced a barrage of criticism from countries over the Khashoggi murder.

His presentation came after 36 countries last week issued a joint statement demanding justice following the killing, in an unprecedented rebuke of the oil-rich kingdom at the rights council.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. -- Courtesy AFP